*Hailemariam Desalegn’s BBC Interview, Fraudulent Accomplice of Tyranny *
*Amanuel Biedemariam*
During a short interview with the BBC World Service, Prime Minister
Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia made some outlandish statements about
Eritrea’s national service and migration among a host of issues that he
touched upon poorly. There is nothing that surprises the people of Ethiopia
and the region about how inept and embarrassing the regime in Ethiopia is.
The only surprise here is the insistence of the British authorities, EU, US
and their institutions that try to present the EPRDF clique as legitimate
representatives of the people contrary to facts on the ground. This is in
stark contrast to public sentiments, denial to the constant breach of the
rule of law and glossing over the crimes against humanity being perpetrated
by EPRDF thugs that have terrorized the region for decades.
In the name of famine, fighting terror and stemming the flow of migrants
from Africa to Europe, the UK, EU and US are on a full-fledged campaign to
resuscitate the dying regime in Ethiopia. These include aid in the form of
famine relief that the US AID gave Ethiopia to the tune of $246 Million in
food assistance while Ethiopian authorities are denying the existence of
famine.
The BBC, Chatham House, the house of lords and other institutions have been
party to these misguided strategies by spewing outright lies, exaggerations
and complete misrepresentations of the facts to their constituencies and
the international community.
On 23 Oct 2015, Chatham House (CH) invited Foreign Minister Dr Tedros
Adhanom to “Reflect on Ethiopia’s priorities for regional stability,
integration and development, and wider international relations.” Chatham
House presented Adhanom’s Ethiopia as,
“Growing to dominate the Horn of Africa in both demographic and economic
terms. The government plans for growth, fueled by infrastructural
development and increasing exports of electricity to its neighbors, to
propel the country towards middle-income status by 2025.”
To the average European, all the expectations and rosy outlook presented by
Dr. Adhanom are welcome and appealing news. However, the realities on the
ground and the history of the UK involvement in Africa to aid countries out
of poverty have been nothing short of sham and gimmick. And unfortunately
for Africa, these efforts are promoted heavily by western celebrities and
so called humanitarian institutions that have stolen the voices of the
people in the world-stage in an effort to sell these agendas to unassuming
public.
However, these rosy statements about Ethiopia mean nothing to the people of
Ethiopia because they are directed at the donor countries that they depend
on for their very existence.
In 2012, US, EU countries and UK launched initiative to mobilize private
capital for investment in African agriculture under the guise of, “New
Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.” In June of 2013, UK hosted a
summit, “Nutrition for Growth” which expanded to the G8 Summit as a major
global agenda and they promoted it heavily by singers Bono and Bob Geldof
at the UN and around the world. At the time George Monibot of the Guardian
penned,
“The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition
<
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/jun/07/g8-new-alliance-flawed-project>,
which bears only a passing relationship to the agreements arising from the
Conference of Berlin, will, according to the US agency promoting it, "lift
50 million people out of poverty
<
http://allafrica.com/stories/201306090100.html> over the next 10 years
through inclusive and sustained agricultural growth". This "inclusive and
sustained agricultural growth" will no longer be in the hands of the people
who are meant to be lifted out of poverty. How you can have one without the
other is a mystery that has yet to be decoded. But I'm sure the alliance's
corporate partners – Monsanto, Cargill, Dupont, Syngenta, Nestlé, Unilever,
Itochu, Yara International and others – could produce some interesting
explanations.”
This quote gets into the heart of the authors-point that is, African and
particular Ethiopian agendas promoted by the UK, EU and the US are not
meant to deliver what they promise. To the contrary they damage the long
term viability and subject these countries to sustained levels of poverty,
hardship and starvation.
It has been over 12 years since “lift 50 million people out of poverty
<
http://allafrica.com/stories/201306090100.html> over the next 10 years”
summit. What is the state of economic state of Ethiopia today?
According to US AID, “8.2 million Ethiopians are in need of emergency food
aid and that figure could rise up to 15 million” if the international
community failed to act.
Why then are the BBC, Chatham House and the House of commons propping the
regime by glossing over real crimes against humanity perpetrated by the
genocidal clique that is undermining international laws, destroying lives
of innocent civilians, source of major instability in the region as saviors
and example of success?
Why are they lying to the people of UK and not exposing the true nature of
the Ethiopian regime that is a source of major flow of refugees to Europe?
Why focus on Eritrea when the minority regime has divided Ethiopia along
ethnic and regional fault-lines that could tear the nation apart and create
major humanitarian crisis for years to come. Why the lies about Ethiopia
becoming a middle income country by 2025 when Ethiopian land is being sold
in chunks to foreign interests and forcibly displacing millions of
indigenous inhabitants in various parts of Ethiopia.
In 2013 Saudi authorities deported over 130,000 Ethiopians that illegally
entered their territories. On April 2015, Ethiopians in the Diaspora were
angered by lack of effort by Ethiopian authorities that failed to help over
50, 000 Ethiopian refugees stranded in Yemen.
Ethiopian authorities are in denial that Ethiopia is a major source of
refugees that flee desperate conditions and persecution in Ethiopia.
Ironically thousands are escaping to Eritrea. Hundreds of thousands of
Ethiopians are in Eastern Sudan and thousands are facing horrific
situations in Libya in their quest to cross to over to Europe. However, the
plight of these refugees means nothing because the UK and partners have
decided that it does not address their interests hence point fingers at
Eritrea which is slated for regime change as in Libya, Syria, and Iraq etc…
It is a source of major concern when institutions that are funded by the
government of the people as the BBC foreign service claims to be when it
brazenly failed to hold accountable the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Haile
Mariam Desalengn as he lied on a BBC interview. He lied,
“The second largest flow of refugees into Europe is from Eritrea.”
This is factually incorrect because according to 2014 UN report quoted by
Washington Post Griff Witte, Jun 18, 2015,
“The four-year-old war in Syria has been the single biggest driver of the
surging numbers. Last year, 1 in 5 displaced persons worldwide was Syrian.
The country in 2014 became the planet’s largest source of refugees,
displacing Afghanistan, which had held that dubious distinction for three
decades.”
During the November 6 BBC interview, the host was leading Hailemariam to
the question of the size of Eritrean refuges coming into Ethiopia. This
indicates that the BBC is-in on the agenda of propagating Ethiopia as a
host nation for refugees that are flowing to the Mediterranean Sea. This is
done to make a case for Ethiopia as deserving to funds that EU is due to
allocate as emergency fund to aid source nations. However, this is a
misguided policy that will exacerbate the corruption in Ethiopia and
further escalate the human exodus.
Furthermore, on its print section, the BBC took-it a step further by
sanitizing what Hailemariam Desalegn said by replacing it with the
following transcript,
“Eritreans are among the largest groups of people trying to get into
Europe, along with Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis.”
Hailemariam did not mention Afghans and Iraqis and yet the BBC took the
liberty to adjust the statement fully aware what Hailemariam said was wrong
and corrected it to deliberately mislead its followers.
*Conclusion*
The west has been speaking past the people of Africa, the true victims of
western agenda while funding and propping illegitimate governments such as
the one in Ethiopia. The price being paid as a result is getting heftier
and yet no accountability. No real progress can take place so long as
conflicts are encouraged and the rule of law undermined as with the border
ruling that Ethiopia flouted for over a decade. This is evidence that no
good outcome can be expected from EU, US, UK or any other foreign entity.
However, and the fact remain no matter how much they prop the minority
clique in Ethiopia, no matter how much they try to sanitize its crimes and
keep it afloat; they cannot save it from the people. Furthermore, this
proves that it is high time for Africans to expose the sham, fraudulent,
misleading reporting by the BBC and the like and look inward for solutions
to their problems.
Awetnayu_at_hotmail.com
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34744282
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/10/african-hunger-help-g8-grab
http://www.tesfanews.net/a-desperate-plea-from-ethiopian-refugees-in-yemen/
www.washingtonpost.com%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fnew-un-report-says-worlds-refugee-crisis-is-worse-than-anyone-expected
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC4QFjACahUKEwiv7Yvhx5HJAhVDbB4KHTtuB4E&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/new-un-report-says-worlds-refugee-crisis-is-worse-than-anyone-expected/2015/06/17/a49c3fc0-14ff-11e5-8457-4b431bf7ed4c_story.html&usg=AFQjCNFLDl8eJn24zZIhPgU1FBY_mBIloQ&sig2=kiBJY-gK0Vg59MGb3qjg-w>
Received on Sun Nov 15 2015 - 09:46:43 EST